Hutcheson Medical Center: Focusing on Personal Interactions

Hutcheson Medical Center is a 179-bed community hospital located in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, eight miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee. By focusing intently on patient–staff interactions and patients' needs, Hutcheson Medical Center has turned around its quality and financial indicators in the last two-and-a-half years. Scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey show that Hutcheson is now a leading hospital nationally on measures of patient satisfaction. Five components of the hospital's strategy may be behind their success: fostering a culture of customer service; empowering nurses through shared governance; collecting and tracking data to chart progress; visibility of leaders; and implementing evidence-based practice.